


Will You Be There To Catch Me When I Fall?

by SkywalkerUprising



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Anxiety, Enemy Lovers, Hinata Shouyou is a Little Shit, I Tried, Ice Skating, Inspired by Yuri!!! on Ice, Kageyama Tobio is a Little Shit, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:12:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26358520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkywalkerUprising/pseuds/SkywalkerUprising
Summary: Hinata has always worked alone, it's how it had to be if he had any chance at his goals. Kageyama had vowed never to go back into pair skating after 'the incident'. Suga and Daichi see an opportunity at getting them to the Japanese championships, maybe even the Olympics... they take it despite protest. They would thank them later... hopefully.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	1. The brick wall and the boy afraid of heights

**Author's Note:**

> [IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ]
> 
> Hiiiiiiiii soooooo... I combined my two favourite anime's... I really hope you like it, I'll try to update whenever I can but I'm excited about where this'll go. ALSO, their routine is based on this routine [Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot (GER) - Gold Medal | Pairs Free Skating | PyeongChang 2018]. It literally comes up when you put into youtube 'ice skating routine' hahah. There will be a time stamp for the video, in the fic whenever I am referring to a move in the routine... Because sometimes trying to write it out and visualise the moves is HARD, but i'll try my best to describe it if you can't be bothered looking it up.
> 
> Anyway! Hope that all made sense ~enjoooy~

“No!” Hinata said, instantly looking around to check that he hadn’t yelled too loud, and hadn’t distracted too many other people. He had, Tsukki was eyeing him off from the other side of the rink, smirking and rolling his eyes. Yamaguchi had followed his stare, though it seemed to carry more worry as he gave Hinata an apologetic half smile.

“I don’t do paired skating.” He frowned, avoiding eye contact with the tall, dark haired boy beside him. “I’ve been skating alone for twenty-two years, we would be starting from scratch and we don’t have the time.”

“You are two of our best skaters and I think combining your talents could make for a routine that would get you to Worlds again, even the Olympics,” this made Hinata’s heart skip a beat, the Olympics, though it had always been his goal, it had never felt quite in reach, especially after placing sixth at Worlds two years ago, and then not getting to Worlds at all a year later. Surely Suga was teasing him, “please, Diachi and I already have most of the choreography thought up.”

“I work better alone.” Hinata said.

“You don’t know that,” Daichi chimed in, crossing his arms, “Kageyama what do you think?”

“I think he’s stubborn and would be hard to work with.”

Hinata scoffed, _‘says the emotionless brick wall, he might have changed his facial expression once? Maybe twice the entire conversation? He was at the very least, impossible to read.’_ he thought.

Daichi sighed, “please think about it logically, Kageyama you are strong, your stamina is crazy, you have a bit of experience in pair skating and your skating is widely regarded as some of the most beautiful skating to date, but you fumble when it comes to technical jumps, and your difficulty isn’t high enough. Hinata has technical abilities that come around once in a blue moon, but his basic skating is lacking. Combining them makes sense!”

Hianata opened his mouth to rebuttal but closed it when he realised there was nothing to say, Daichi was right, he wasn’t an idiot, he had seen Kageyama skating before, even if it was only briefly and he hadn’t cared to remember his name. His skating was undeniably elegant, Hinata was clumsy when it came to trying to be graceful or controlling his face as he skated. 

“I- I could fix my technical jumps before the next competitive season.” Kageyama said, directing this comment at Daichi, who was his coach individually. “You could, but you could also fix them, and be in a pair skate, meaning there would be less pressure and more of a chance to make your routine harder as you do fix them. Don’t you see? You could have a winning routine as is right now, without fixing anything, who knows what you could have in a few months time, I’m serious when I say you could make it to Olympics.” Daichi said.

“Do you really believe that?” Hinata asked Suga. Suga had been coaching him for five years now, he’d like to think that they had a level of mutual trust and respect by now, he trusted him to tell the truth. “I do.” He said seriously, looking up at Daichi who also nodded.

“Fine. But it’s only this season. Next season I want to go back to individuals.”

“Sure.” Suga said, smiling ear to ear.

“Kageyama?” Daichi asked.

“If you really mean what you say, sure.”

Daichi looked at Suga and nodded, smiling. Hinata for the first time in the conversation looked up at Kageyama who quickly looked away as their eyes met. He hoped this wouldn’t be a mistake.

The next day Hinata woke up to five missed calls, and twenty messages telling him to get to the ice skating rink earlier so that they could run trust exercises. Hinata wished he had slept long enough that it would be too late to go early, but instead he had time to spare. He huffed and pulled himself out of bed, quickly getting changed and grabbed an oat bar as he hurried out the house.

He found himself sighing and huffing most of the drive there, sometimes laying his head on the wheel for a few seconds when he was at a red light. “This is gonna suck.” He muttered to himself.

He had always liked skating in peace, it had taken him a while to even let Suga join all of his practices, opting to skate on his own for 6 out of 7 days of the week. The only reason Suga would let him was because he always showed improvement.

How was he going to cope with not only Daichi staring at him now, but Kageyama skating with him? He shouldn’t have said yes at all. He could have made it to the Olympics alone.

Kageyama was already there when he arrived at the rink. Punctual prick. It was like he was trying to make him look bad. 

“Hinata! We were just talking to Kageyama about the routine.”

“Fantastic.” He muttered under his breath as he skated to stand next to Kageyama on the ice. Suga and Daichi went over what they had been explaining to Kageyama, though Hinata found himself vagueing out for a lot of it unintentionally, before Suga clapped, “so! Trust exercises.”

Hinata groaned and Kageyama just crossed his arms. “Hinata you are gonna be thrown in the air a lot, you need to learn to trust Kageyama, and to bond with him so that you look good together on the ice. Why don’t we just start with watching each other skate, both of you are fairly private about having people watch you so, that seems like a good place to start.”

Hinata almost complained again before Suga just shot him a look. He narrowed his eyes but decided it wouldn’t be worth it. “Kageyama, you go first.” Daichi said.

Kageyama nodded and headed towards the center of the rink. He started by skating normally, before he sped up, twisting and jumping across the ice, everyone across the rink and in the stands started staring at him, they couldn’t look away, and neither could Hinata. Even Tsukki had stopped what he was doing to stare.

The way his body twisted and turned as he went into each new move was mesmerizing to say the least, he couldn’t peal his eyes away, even when he fumbled the jumps a few times. He could see what Daichi meant about his jump execution. He kept his eyes on him until Kageyama finally found his way back to beside Hinata. Hianata blinked a few times before looking down at his hands, gripping the top of the half wall around the rink. “Hinata?”

“Yeah.” He said as he pushed off the wall, skating to where Kageyama had just been. He skated around a bit, executing all the jumps he knew. He tried not to think about the eyes on him, especially Daichi, Suga and Kageyama.

“There, how are we feeling?” Suga asked.

“Fine.” Hinata replied sharply. He wasn’t sure it was the whole truth as he felt his face flush, but he knew it was what he needed to say.

“I think next we should get you two use to being next to each other physically,” great, the moment Hinata knew was coming but was dreading, “hold hands and do a lap.” Hinata rolled his eyes but held out his hand anyway, Kageyama took it. His hand was surprisingly soft and warm in his own. The size of his hand entirely engulfing his. It might have even been nice if it wasn’t connected to a human brick wall.

They began skating around the rink, Hinata trying his best to match his skating pattern to Kageyama’s. Eventually around halfway around the rink they synced up, maybe it wouldn’t be as hard as he thought.

They got back around to Suga and Daichi who looked all too pleased with themselves. “Perfect!” Suga said, clapping once, “shall we go over the choreography before we get into any of the technical stuff?” He directed the question at Daichi, who nodded once.

“Wonderful, Daichi and I will do it once together, and then walk you guys through it.

The choreography, when looking at it, was beautiful. Daichi and Suga twisted around each other perfectly, moving in and out of each other’s arms, skating in sync… but when he tried to imagine Kageyama and him in their places, Hinata felt lost. Suga and Daichi made it look so easy, even romantic as they kept their eyes on each other whenever they had the chance. They looked good together, and were clearly even having fun as Daichi looped Suga’s arms around his body so they were inches apart, and then back out again to hold hands as they skated backwards [1:51-1:58].

He looked up at Kageyama as Daichi and Suga finished the choreography, panting a little as they began skating back to them. He was nervous now, Suga and Daichi knew each other, used to train together, had been coaches working around each other for years. They had a chemistry that Hinata couldn’t imagine him sharing with anyone in general, let alone share with Kageyama in the space of four months. He tried not to let the worry show on his face as the two coaches got closer.

“Lets run you through it step by step shall me?” Suga beamed.

Without any of the technical aspects in the routine, Kageyama was in his element, gliding along the ice as they tried to learn the steps. 

“Fuck,” Hinata muttered under his breath as he forgot another piece of the foot work. Kageyama just sighed, skating back to the starting position. For some reason Kageyama’s calm but frustrated mannerisms seemed to make Hinata even more furious. He acted like it was so easy, like he was better than him.

Eventually Suga and Daichi told them to give the choreography a break and instead work on lifts.

It had felt weird to have anyone lifting him, he definitely wasn’t used to it, and aside from that he still had one obstacle stopping him from giving it 100%... he was scared of heights. What didn’t help is that Kageyama was clearly oblivious to this, setting up the lifts like Hinata was just supposed to know what he was doing, instead of working to Hinata’s skill level. 

“One more time.” Suga clapped nervously. Hinata gave him a look, _‘please can we stop for today? You know I’m scared of heights, I need more time.’_ his eyes begged, Suga just tilted his head as if to say _‘Yes I know, but please try.’_

He gave in to Suga’s pleading eyes and went over to stand next to Kageyama, where they would begin the section of the routine they were working on for the fifteenth time. 

They skated around the edge of the rink, holding hands until Kageyama reached out to grab Hinata’s other hand, this was the set up to the lift and Hinata felt his heart begin to race as he twisted between Kageyama’s hands and was lifted up above his shoulder. Hinata’s arms began to wobble as they had every other time they got this far into the lift, and suddenly his arm gave out, he fell down onto Kageyama’s shoulder, and then down to the ice, dragging Kageyama down with him. [3:02-3:15]

“What is your issue?” Kageyama snapped, holding onto his shoulder with his opposite hand.

“What do you mean? I’ve never done partner skating before and I’ve never been held in the air like that! I barely know you and I’m supposed to trust that you won’t drop me?”

“That’s exactly what you’re supposed to do, or this can never work!” He said, dropping his hand down from his shoulder so that he could pick himself back up.

“Well maybe it just won’t ever work!” He yelled back.

“Okay, we’re going to pick this back up tomorrow, for now, go home, clear your heads and come back tomorrow with a positive attitude please.” Suga said softly but sternly.

“But-” Kageyama started.

“Positive attitude!” Daichi said, raising his eyebrows at Kageyama.

“Whatever.” He said, skating away from Hinata who was trying to ignore the aching down his leg as he got up from the fall and skated back over to the exit.

When Hinata was sure Daichi and Kageyama were out of ear shot, Hinata turned to Suga. “This is never going to work.”

“Hinata-”

“No, you’ve put me with a stubborn asshole who only cares about himself, it’s a wonder he’s ever done pair skating before, who could work with him?”

“Hinata. Can you just trust that I wouldn’t put you with him for no reason? Isn’t that enough? Have I ever failed you?”

“Well, no you haven’t but-”

“Then leave it. We’ll work on your fear of heights, and the relationship you have with Kageyama will sort itself out, you’ll see.”

“Relationship,” he scoffed, “I don’t know that asshole at all! In fact, I’m starting to think I don’t like him! At least that’s an upgrade from a stranger though right?” He shrugged, crossing his arms before continuing, “and I’m just supposed to be okay with him holding me in the air with one hand? Tossing me above his head and across the ice?”

“Hinata. Drop it! Give me a month, and then we can talk if it’s not working, until then, shut up and try your hardest, for me, and for a chance at Nationals, Worlds, the Olympics… those are your goals right? So fucking focus.” He frowned, picking up his bag before, heading over to where Daichi was standing, probably having the same conversation with Kageyama.

Hinata sighed, picking up his own bag before he headed out to his car. He threw his stuff in the back and quickly got in the driver's seat, resting his head on the steering wheel as he had that morning. 

He would do anything for a chance at the Olympics, he would be stupid not to. But he thought about Kageyama and instantly gritted his teeth. How would this ever work?


	2. Bonding, but make it forced

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellllooooo, back with chapter twooooo. 
> 
> I'd also like it to be known that I don't know a lot about ice skating, I know a bit but if I get anything wrong or don't use very technical terms, or get timings for competitions wrong then I do apologise, I'm googling as I go. 
> 
> Also I can already tell that a bit of what I write will be thanks to my lovely friend ~plot convenience~ such as money spending stuff so... lets just try not to overthink it and enjoy them living in luxury just because I can give them luxury haha.
> 
> Anyway, hope you like it, feel free to leave comments telling me what you think, I appreciate any feedback! :)

The next week of training wasn’t any better than the first, not that Hinata was surprised. Kageyama was stubborn and didn’t work well with people, it didn’t take a genius to see that, so why couldn’t he himself see it. 

“You should have picked it up by now!” Kageyama argued after Hinata had told him again that he didn’t understand how to hold his body to get into the lift. “How am I supposed to ‘pick it up’ if I haven’t been told how to do it in the first place you dumbass?” He rebutled before Suga and Daichi stepped in to diffuse the argument.

Suga and Daichi themselves had looked defeated on their final day of practice for the week, looking between each other with a kind of sadness in their eyes. 

The weekend passed and Hinata found himself pacing his room for most of it, practicing what he could, when he could. Most of it was impossible to do without a partner but he marked the moves he couldn’t do and did the rest relentlessly until he was sure he had memorised the majority of the routine. He wouldn’t let Kageyama be the only one to impress their coaches. 

On Monday morning Hinata woke up to the buzzing of his phone from under his pillow. At first he thought it was part of his dream, until his eyes had finally fluttered open and the buzzing continued. 

“Suga w-“ he spoke sleepily into the phone.

“Pack a bag for a week away and meet at the skating rink in one hour.” He said before he hung up.

“W-“ Hinata took the phone away from his ear and looked down at the screen, a message from Suga instantly popping up.

**_Suga_ ** **:** **_Come on up! Up! Up!_ **

Hinata wasn’t sure if he was supposed to admire Suga’s enthusiasm or be afraid of it. Considering his attitude towards him and Kageyama’s practice on Friday he probably should have been afraid, but decided not to over think it and just listen to him, lord knows it’s what he owed him. 

**_Hinata: It’s way too early for this kind of enthusiasm, also where am I going for a week? I have work you know!_ **

**_Suga: It’s okay, I already talked to your boss about it :)_ **

**_Hinata: You shouldn’t take advantage of Asahi’s niceness you know >:(_ **

**_Suga: Take advantage?! Me?? Excuse you. Just hurry up and get here!_ **

**_Hinata: Fineeeee, fine!_ **

Hinata groaned and got himself ready, packing for a week as Suga had requested and before long he was sitting in his car, in the parking lot of the ice skating rink. 

“What th-“ he looked out of the car to see Suga, Daichi and Kageyama all standing outside next to Daichi’s car. He just shook his head, grabbing his large duffel bag before locking the car and heading towards the three of them. “What is this?” He asked as soon as they were in ear shot.

All of their heads turned to face him and Suga’s face lit up, “yay! You’re here!” 

“They haven’t explained to me what’s going on either.” Kageyama grumbled, shooting Daichi a dirty look. Daichi just shrugged, turning to face Suga as he clapped to get everyone’s attention. 

“So! Daichi and I were talking Saturday and Sunday about you guys!”

“Wow your weekends sound fuuuun.” Hinata tilted his head jokingly. Kageyama scoffed, the corner of his lip pulling into a small smirk. 

“I’ll have you know it was very enjoyable actually,” he said, looking up at Daichi who’s nose turned ever so slightly pink, “Anyway, we realised the main thing that is stopping you guys from executing your lifts is that you guys don’t trust each other… or really know each other, so! This week is going to be all about building trust and forcing you guys to get along!” 

“I take it back, your weekends don’t sound fun, THAT sounds fun!” Hinata smiled a cartoonish smile before dropping it immediately, and putting his thumb down towards the two coaches.

“Ignoring all the sarcasm, Hinata is right, that sounds horrible… and like it won’t work. You can’t force people to get along.” Kageyama chimed in.

“Wrong! We definitely can, and definitely are, hop in the car and let’s get going!” Suga said, bouncing towards the front passenger seat. Daichi smiled headed towards the driver's seat, opening the trunk of the car on his way. 

Hinata groaned but threw his bag in the back. 

Suddenly a hand wrapped around his elbow, he turned around to face Kageyama, who immediately drew his hand back into his pocket as he closed the trunk. “Uh, hey, I know I’m difficult, but I don’t want to let Daichi down… and I’m sure you don’t want to let Suga down either, so whatever this is, can we just try to make it work? If not for ourselves, then for them?”

Hinata stood, almost in shock. It was honestly the most Kageyama had said to him since they met and at first he wasn’t quite sure how to respond. He gathered himself, turning to get into the back passenger seat, “of course.” He finally responded, turning only his head back to face Kageyama who simply nodded before heading around to the other back seat. 

The journey was longer than Hinata had been expecting, he fell asleep almost immediately after Daichi had started driving, only waking up once when Kageyama had pushed him off of his shoulder about an hour into the drive. “You’re dribbling on me! Ew!” Kageyama yelled, pushing him hard into the car door. 

“Ow!” Hinata grumbled, shooting Kageyama a glare before huddling up against the car door for comfort. Suga and Daichi’s conversations had made for perfect background noise while Hinata tried to fall back asleep. It almost felt like the family road trips he used to take with his parents and sister, only it was usually Hinata pushing his sister off his shoulder when she started dribbling, and not him being pushed.

Eventually sleep took over Hinata and he stayed asleep the rest of the car trip, until Daichi’s voice woke him up.

“Rise and shine sleepy heads!” He said, turning around in his seat to face a sleepy Hinata and Kageyama who looked all but disoriented as they tried to figure out where they were.

“A hotel?” Hinata asked.

“Apartment style hotels!” Suga beamed, looking back at them now as well. “Let’s go! I’ve heard so many good things about this place.” He gushed, already halfway out the car. 

Hinata and Kageyama soon followed him and picked up their bags from the back of the car, tossing them over their shoulders. 

Hinata looked at the hotel, finally taking it in for the first time properly. “Woah, the ice rinks budget could cover this?” 

“Well, not entirely but that was mostly because there were two coaches going instead of one so, I didn’t mind paying the extra!” Daichi said.

“Daichi you didn’t tell me there was extra!” Suga whined, punching him in the arm.

“Shhh! Let’s head in!”

The four of them headed into the lobby. Daichi got their room keys and they headed up in the elevator until they were on the fifteenth floor. As far as Hinata could tell there were only two rooms on the floor, maybe two of them were on the floor below or above?

“Kageyama and Hinata, these are the keys to your room, and these keys are mine and Suga’s.”

“Wait what?” Hinata asked.

“You really thought for a trust building week you weren’t going to be in the same room?” Daichi tossed Hinata the keys, before Suga started working on opening one of the doors.

“I-“ Hinata started.

“Not only will you be sharing the room, you will also be sharing a bed! Nothing says vulnerability quite like sleeping together no Suga?” Daichi asked.

“I agree!” Suga beamed.

“We’ll meet you in your room in around an hour to discuss the week further but for now settle in! Enjooooy!” Daichi said, the two of them waving until the door was slammed and Daichi and Suga’s giggles could be heard behind the door.

“Is this even legal?” Hinata asked.

“I feel like I’ve been conned.” Kageyama added.

“Let’s just get into the room.” Hinata sighed, turning towards the door to unlock it. Whatever would upset him about having to share the room would be immediately made up by the luxury of it all. A balcony with a hot tub, an island bench between the kitchen and the living room, it really was like a full apartment.

“Woah, come and look at the bedroom.” Kageyama said quietly, Hinata followed the sound of his voice to the entrance of a large room with floor to ceiling windows. Kageyama was standing in front of them, his arms wrapped around himself, as if he was doing it for comfort. Hinata walked over, standing beside him and looking at their view. “You can see almost all of the city from here.” Hinata muttered, looking up at Kageyama, who seemed deep in thought as he nodded. “Yeah you can.”

The two of them continued to look out of the window for a further ten minutes before Hinata finally broke the silence, looking back over the room, and the one bed. “What are we going to do, about this whole situation?”

“I’ll just take the couch.” Kageyama shrugged, still refusing to take his eyes off of the view.

Hinata shook his head. “Nah, you’re taller than I am, even with how nice the couch is, you’d cramp up, I’ll take it.”

“You don’t ha-” he started, turning to face Hinata

“It’s seriously fine.” Hinata interrupted before Kageyama could be the bigger man. Really Hianta had selfish intentions under the layer of good he was doing. He didn’t want his skating partner to be sore when they practiced together again. It just was easier for him to just bite the bullet, rather than hear Kageyama complain about not being able to do the routine due to the crick in his neck. “Should I message Suga to let him know we’re ready for them to come over?” Hinata asked.

“Sure.” Kageyama shrugged, heading into the kitchen where he sat at one of the stools, bringing his knees up to his chest, and laying his head so that he was now looking out the balcony. Hinata trailed behind him, grabbing his phone out of his pocket as he plopped himself up on the island bench.

**_Hinata: You guys can come over now, Kageyama and I are just sitting here waiting._ **

Less than a minute after the message had been sent, he heard a knock at the door. Hinata whipped his head towards the noise, jumping slightly at the sudden break in the silence. Kageyama seemed unfazed as per usual. “That was quick.” Hinata commented as he moved to open the door.

“We brought wine!” Suga said giggling as he moved past Hinata and into the kitchen where he sat down next to Kageyama on the stools. Kageyama finally looked up, putting his legs down and swinging himself so he was facing Daichi on the other side of the bench. “Wine?” Hinata asked.

“To celebrate our mini vacation, and bonding!” He rested his head on his hand as he watched Daichi look around for wine classes in the cabinets.

“Have you by chance, already had some wine?” Hinata asked, laughing nervously as he moved to sit on the bench again, next to where Kageyama was sitting.

“No, rude, I’m just being my normal lively self.” He glared at Hinata, who just put his hands up in surrender.

“So, you going to tell us what we’re doing here? Besides bonding and all that?” Kageyama asked.

Suga shrugged, taking one of the wine glasses that Daichi had poured out for the four of them, the others following suit. “That’s almost all of what we’re going to be doing here. It’s really important for the success of this routine that you guys are at least on friendly terms. As you know, most pair skaters have been working together for far longer than you guys have, or at the very least have known each other longer, but, that’s nothing we can’t fix-”

“But what if you can’t?” Kageyama asked, probably more intensely than he had intended as he looked sheepishly at the other three.

“Then we will cross that bridge once we get to it, but for now, I need you two to give your all into trying to make this work.”

Hinata and Kageyama looked at each other, remembering the conversation they had shared that morning and both nodded, making Suga smile.

“So, in order for us to get the most out of this trip, you two will need to follow some rules,” Daichi continued on from Suga, “you two will be living here together obviously, and this is where we want you to stay for the majority of the trip, that way you will be able to see each other in your somewhat normal everyday lives, it will make you feel more connected than just seeing each other when you’re skating, humanise each other a bit.”

“You also can’t leave this hotel without each other, so, wherever one goes, the other must follow.” Suga added.

“What? No, that’s going to get old really fast.” Hinata said.

“Maybe, and we know it may even end horribly, you two being together 24/7, trust me we’ve thought about it, but it’s a chance we have to take.” Daichi said.

Kageyama and Hinata frowned but made no further effort to debate them. “Are there any other rules?”

“Not necessarily a rule, but there will be no official training while we’re on this trip, it would only increase the tension right now and nothing will work on the ice if nothing works off the ice, you know?” Suga shrugged.

“Sure.” Hinata said between gritted teeth. 

_ Make this work. Make this work. Make this work.  _ He repeated to himself.

“I know this might be hard at first but whatever this relationship will be between the two of you, it will resolve itself over this trip, and whatever that resolve is will depend on whether this partnership will work.” Daichi explained.

He was right though, Hinata and Kageyama both knew it. Being confined to these walls and having to do everything together, if they both wanted it to work then they would figure out their differences, or at the very least try. If it didn’t end up working well, at least they could say they gave it their all.

The four of them moved onto lighter topics including the gossip around the ice skating rink and their lives outside of skating. Before long Daichi and Suga were heading back to their room, and Hinata was clearing the bench for Kageyama to wipe it down with a cloth.

After they had finished cleaning they offered each other a simple “goodnight.” As Kageyama headed into the bedroom and Hinata got himself set up on the couch. Despite how small it was, the couch was comfortable and Hinata found himself asleep in minutes, dreaming as he always did, about standing on the podium at the Olympics, a goal that seemed closer than it had felt in years, if only they could get through this week.


	3. I don't want to fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluffiest thing I've ever written, get ready. I was trying to slow burn but it's speeding up faster than I thought... I ain't mad tho. HOPE YOU ENJOY!

The three days ran by about as smoothly as Hinata was expecting. Kageyama and Hinata mainly sat in silence, sometimes in different rooms if Kageyama was feeling especially anti-social. When they were in the same room they didn’t talk much, only exchanging words when they wanted to order dinner, or needed to decide on what movie or tv show to watch while they were eating dinner. They still argued a lot and loudly, but mainly about stupid little things.

Though besides all of the yelling and the sitting in silence for most of the day, it had felt like, in an unspoken way, they had started to understand each other.

Kageyama was always up before Hinata, making sure to make two servings worth of food instead of one. 

While Kageyama was cooking, Hinata would wake up, making them both coffee, Kageyama liked his coffee black. No sugar, no milk.

Kageyama always ordered extra wasabi with their sushi, which they ended up having most lunches. He knew Hinata liked a lot of wasabi on each roll.

At night, after dinner, Hinata knew Kageyama liked tea to settle down for the night, so he would flick the kettle, pouring them both tea, despite the fact that Hinata had never used to drink tea before bed.

Besides that, Hinata occupied his time by sitting on his phone, messaging Kenma predominantly, or scrolling mindlessly through Instagram. Kageyama did the same, though he didn’t seem to message anyone that Hinata had seen, maybe his parents once or twice?

That was another thing he had learnt about Kageyama, is that he clearly didn’t have many close friends, and that he liked working alone. It made Hinata only more curious as to why he would have done pair skating in the past anyway, he was clearly made for individual skating, all he needed to do was execute his jumps better.

Kageyama had said the same thing a few weeks ago when they had first met _ “I- I could fix my technical jumps before the next competitive season.”  _ He had said to Daichi. Hinata believed it too, already in the weeks he had known him, his jumps had improved significantly. Hinata started to think this whole pair skating plan was all Suga’s idea, considering it was Hinata who still had a lot of improvement to do, and it was with basic skating, it couldn’t be fixed so quickly.

Hinata stood up and decided sitting thinking about such things was only going to make him anxious or doubt himself. It was at times like these that he usually tried to occupy his time by skating, but he couldn’t do that now, with Suga’s rules in place. The balcony seemed like the next best place. 

He put his dinner down on the coffee table, Kageyama watching him out the corner of his eye as he walked in front of the tv and out the balcony door.

Hinata sat on the ground, as far away from the edge of the balcony as he could, trying not to think about how high up he was, he just needed the fresh air. When he was looking from the window in the bedroom, it somehow didn’t seem so bad, to be so high up, but now as the wind brushed through his hair and he heard the distant traffic below, it felt a lot more real just how high up they were. He tried not to think about it as he let his mind wander to counting the amount of car horns he heard on the street below.

1

2

3

4

“Hey”

5

6

7

“Hinata?”

“Hm?” He looked up finally at Kageyama, who was standing beside him with both of their plates of dinner in each hand. When had he even come out? 

His Mum had always teased him of having tunnel vision but he hadn’t realised just how bad it was until recently. “You uh, okay?” Kageyama asked.

Hinata shrugged, leaning his head back against the glass window behind him.

“Do you mind if I sit out here with you?” He asked quietly.

“Sure” He said, keeping his eyes on the sky above so he didn’t think about the building tops in front of him.

Kageyama held out Hinata’s food to him, which he saw from the corner of his eye. He took the plate, placing it in his lap before he began picking at it, eating small bits at a time. “Can I ask what’s wrong?” Kageyama asked cautiously. Hinata frowned at his timid voice but looked towards him anyway, at least he wouldn’t be looking ahead at the buildings, at the clouds scattered across the dark sky that seemed to close so high up. “Just overthinking a bit, so I figured fresh air would do me a bit of good.”

“I feel that, I live in an apartment, I got it specifically for the balcony. It's nice being so high up, looking down at everything, makes me feel more in control weirdly?” He shrugged, finishing up the last of his dinner in the plate before setting it aside.

“That I can’t relate with.”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“I- I’m actually afraid of heights.” He admitted, he was hoping he would never have to admit something so stupid to Kageyama, that he would have had it under control by the time it became relevant to their training. But somehow in the adrenaline of being so high and the calm voice Kageyama had entered with, it almost felt safe, and necessary to admit.

“Is that why you always shake when we do lifts?” Kageyama asked, Hinata’s eyes shooting open, as if he had just admitted to a murder. “W- I- Y-Yes…” He stumbled over his words, looking down now as he avoided both making eye contact with Kageyama, and looking over, beyond the balcony’s edge. “Why didn't you just tell me?”

“Because it’s embarrassing! Would you have told me something like that?” He snapped slightly, his cheeks blushing a light shade of pink.

“Maybe not…” He said.

Suddenly it was silent between the two of them, before Kageyama sighed, holding out his hand under Hinata’s nose, so that his eyes were staring at his palm. “W-” Hinata looked back up at him, though his eyes were not on Hinata, but the view that Hinata was avoiding.

“Take it.” Kageyama said.

“I-”

“Just do it.” He said.

Hinata frowned, but slipped his hand into Kageyama’s, just like he did for their routine. Somehow they fit together even better than they did in practice and Hinata tried to ignore the swirling feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was from the heights.

Kageyama got onto his knees and scooted towards the glass edge of the balcony, tugging at Hinata’s hand. 

Hinata’s heart began to race as his body was being tugged forward, “no.” Hinata said, ripping his hand back into the safety of his lap. Kageyama turned, sitting down again in the middle of the balcony. “You don’t understand I really can’t, ever since I was a child I-”

“I was afraid of heights too.” Kageyama said, cutting him off. This stopped Hinata in his tracks entirely, he frowned up at him, his mouth still open and his heart still racing. “I hated them, I was the person that was lifted… in my old pair for skating… and I was terrified of heights.”

“Are you still afraid of them?” Hinata asked in a small voice HE wasn’t even sure he had heard himself use.

Kageyama shook his head, “maybe a little bit but, it’s only a tiny voice in the back of my head now, I can block it out like that,” he said, snapping his finger.

“How?” He asked, his cheeks flushing again as he admitted defeat, admitted to needing help.

Kageyama held out his hand again. Hinata looked at him, back up at Kageyama’s face, and then back down at his hand again, before he took it, letting Kageyama tug him closer and closer to where he was sitting in the middle of the balcony. 

Hinata felt his heart race again, he wanted to back away, wanted to escape the situation. He didn’t need to love heights, he especially didn’t need to learn to love these heights he-

A thumb brushed against the top of Hinata’s hand.

His heart stopped for a moment as he sat next to Kageyama, he had made it to the middle. But apparently that wasn’t enough as Kageyama began scooting close to the edge again, dragging Hinata along with him. Hinata audibly protested but his legs kept moving as he shuffled closer and closer. 

He began to shake.

A hand lightly squeezed his own in response.

They were at the edge. Hinata quickly averted his eyes back to the apartment, his breath uneasy. “Hinata.” Kageyama said. Hinata slowly looked at him, his eyes most likely glistening with tears at this point. “I do want to make this work, being in pair skating. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Daichi so excited to come to practices, or seen him so confident about a routine. I think they’re right too, we could be onto something. But… for this to work, I need you to trust me when I say,” he took a breath, “I promise that I will never drop you Hinata. As long as I’m around,” he looked down at the road below, before looking back up at Hinata, “you never have to be afraid of the ground beneath you.”

Hinata’s breath hitched, he knew Kageyama didn’t mean just on the ice, he meant now on this balcony with fifteen stories beneath them, he meant  _ ‘I will be any support you need to make this work. We both want this, so lets make it work, and support each other to make our dreams come true. We’re a team now.’  _

Hinata nodded and Kageyama continued, “but, in return, I need you to promise me that you will give every lift your all, that you will try to trust me.”

“I will. I promise.”

“Then we’ll go as far as we can together.”


End file.
